Circle Pines

Welcome to Orchid Restaurant!

Located in the White Bear Township shops adjacent to the White Bear Township theater, the Orchid Restaurant is owned by the Nguyen family who also own two restaurants in France. The fresh, distinctive flavors of Vietnamese and French cooking are well represented on the Orchid Restaurant menu. Chinese and Thai dishes are also featured. Additional restaurant services include children’s, vegetarian, and gluten free menus as well as gift certificates and catering. The restaurant offers selected wines to complement their menus and a full bar.

Circle Pines is a city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,918 at the 2010 census. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.97 square miles of which 1.78 square miles is land and 0.19 square miles is water. Lake Drive / County 23 serves as a main route in the community. Interstate 35W is in close proximity to the city. Rice Creek flows through the city.

Independent School District #12 serves the community of Circle Pines and the surrounding cities of Blaine, Lino Lakes, Centerville, and Lexington. Children in Circle Pines attend Centennial Elementary or Golden Lake Elementary before continuing their education at Centennial Middle School and Centennial Senior High.

Circle Pines was ranked as the 3rd most perfect suburb to live in by CNBC in 2011 based on housing, education, crime, and employment. Circle Pines is a Plan A statutory city under Minnesota law. The Circle Pines mayor is elected for a two-year term and councilmembers for a four-year term. Mayor of Circle Pines is Dave Bartholomay and the councilmembers are Dave Kelso, Deb O’Brien, Rich Runbeck and Matt Percy. City Administrator Jim Keinath is responsible for running the city on a day-to-day basis. Circle Pines is served by the Centennial School District, the Centennial Lakes Police Department, and the Centennial Fire Department.

Circle Pines was founded as a planned cooperative community in which homeowners owned equal shares in the cooperative association which owned and developed the community. The name was selected because the cooperative movement in the United States in the 1940s used a circle encompassing two pine trees as its symbol. Although the community is no longer governed as a co-op, a municipally-owned gas utility remains as an operational memorial to Circle Pines’ community heritage. The Gibas family were one of the original families of the Circle Pines cooperative. Their papers offer further insight into the origins of Circle Pines, Minnesota. Articles and speeches, news clippings, correspondence, and photographs are available for research use.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 writer/actress Mary Jo Pehl grew up in Circle Pines, and the city is mentioned in several episodes of the show. 30 Rock actor Scott Adsit was also born in Circle Pines.